Plant biotechnology offers important opportunities for agriculture,
horticul- ture, and the food industry by generating new transgenic crop
varieties with altered properties. This is likely to change farming
practices, improve the quality of fresh and processed plant products,
and reduce the impact of food production on the environment. The purpose
of this series is to review the basic science that underpins plant
biotechnology and to show how this knowledge is being used in directed
plant breeding. It is intended for those involved in fundamental and
applied research on transgenic plants in the academic and commercial
sectors. The first volume deals with plant genes, how they work, and
their transfer from one organism to another. Authors discuss the
production and evaluation of the first generation of transgenic crops
resistant to insects, viruses and herbicides, and consider aspects of
gene regulation and targeting of their protein products to the correct
cellular location. All the contributors are actively engaged in research
in plant biotechnology and several are concerned directly with its
commercial applications. Their chapters highlight the importance of a
fundamental understanding of plant physiology, biochemistry, and cell
and molecular biology for the successful genetic engineering of plants.
This interdisciplinary approach, which focuses research from
traditionally separate areas, is the key to further developments which
are considered in subsequent volumes. Don Grierson Contributors Alan B.
Bennett Mann Laboratory, Department of Vegetable Crops, University of
California, Davis, CA 95616 John W. s.
